UBS Reshuffles Wealth Management Leadership

Tom Burroughes

14 December 2017

has reshuffled its wealth management leadership, naming senior manager Martin Blessing as president of this division, taking the helm from Jürg Zeltner, who has run this business area that covers wealth business outside of North America for nine years.

Blessing has previously been president for personal and corporate banking and president for UBS Switzerland, holding that post since September 2016. Before joining the bank, he spent 15 years managing Commerzbank, holding the role of chairman for half of that time, UBS said in a statement.

Zeltner is an example of a one-company career man, having started at Swiss Bank Corp – later to become UBS – as an apprentice in 1984. He steps down from the group executive board at the end of this year and retires in 2018. Zeltner’s leadership in wealth management coincided with the Swiss lender’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and a series of challenges, such as the US crackdown on Americans’ offshore bank accounts and the partial demise of Swiss bank secrecy laws.

UBS said of Zeltner’s leadership role that during his time, “UBS regained its position as the leading international wealth manager and increased profitability through challenging market conditions. He repositioned the business by increasing its leadership in Asia-Pacific and with ultra-high net worth clients and drove innovation by expanding investment capabilities and rolling out a single technology platform covering the majority of client assets.”

Axel Lehmann, currently group chief operating officer, will succeed Blessing as president of personal and corporate banking and president of UBS Switzerland. He has been in this role for the past two years. Before this, Lehmann was a member of the board of directors of UBS for more than six years and spent nearly 20 years at Zurich Insurance Group, 14 of which were on its group executive committee in various roles including responsibility for the insurer's European and North American business.

Sabine Keller-Busse will take on the role of group COO from Lehmann and the group chief operating office will be expanded to include the group human resources (HR) function. Keller-Busse took responsibility for the HR role in August 2014. She was COO of UBS Switzerland for four years prior to her current role, joined the firm in 2010 and has been a member of the GEB since 2016.

Editor's note: It is perhaps all too easy to forget that UBS, which is now the world's largest wealth manager and making strides in North America, EMEA and the Asia region, was in serious trouble during the financial crisis. It received state support at the time, and was hit by a costly and embarrassing legal challenge in the US over the provision of offshore bank accounts for Americans. Switzerland has seen the end, in many respects, of its historic bank secrecy laws and banks in the Alpine state have had to reinvent themselves. It is fair to say that UBS has managed to bounce back, demonstrating the power of a strong brand, particularly in regions such as Asia. The challenge of negative Swiss interest rates has been, to some extent, met, although no doubt UBS and its Swiss peers will breathe a sigh of relief as and when more normal monetary conditions return. This publication will be closely tracking how Blessing chooses to drive the wealth management operation in the years ahead. Wealth management's importance for the overall UBS group has expanded relative to areas such as investment banking. The strategic shift made several years ago seems, so far, to have reaped rewards.